proof of concept

PROOF OF CONCEPT

LEGATO STRINGS

In this video, I use the 441K Auto Patch Advance MIDI FX Script in conjunction with the Chord Trigger plug-in to increase realism and ease of playability in my MainStage design for the Keyboard II book of the musical Crazy for You.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

In this video, I use MainStage's Arpeggiator and Chord Trigger MIDI FX plugins to create an arpeggiated synth that is mapped to the bass notes of this patch for the song The Meek Shall Inherit from the musical Little Shop of Horrors. The speed of the Arpeggiator is mapped to the Volume Pedal. The Volume Pedal still functions normally (in addition to controlling the Arpeggiator), but the curve is adjusted so there is no perceptible change in volume unless the player pedals back significantly. This way, the player can use the Volume Pedal to control the speed of the arpeggiation throughout the passage to create an effect that is out of strict time, mimicking the frantic feelings of Seymour as he tries to decide what to do about the murderous plant he's been feeding.

CHESS

Here is my mockup of the "Spiro" patch that appears in the song One Night in Bangkok.

PETER PAN

An excerpt from the Keyboard 1 book for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s 2018 production of Peter Pan.

MADAGASCAR

For Madagascar at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Matt Deitchman did a great orchestration for 4 players - 2 keyboards, woodwind, and drums/percussion. My Electronic Music Design is front and center in this promotional video for the show. I also played the drum book for this production, which included both acoustic and electronic elements. For this song (I Like To Move It), I used an external trigger attached to my bass drum that ran into a Roland SPD-SX Sampling Pad for that "clubby" bass drum sound. The hand percussion you hear is also being played by me on the Roland pad (additionally, there are 2 other external triggers running into the Roland pad that are used in other places in the show). The rest of the electronic drum elements you hear in this video are coming from Keyboard 2. Both keyboard books were programmed in MainStage.

MAMMA MIA!

My MainStage keyboard design for the musical Mamma Mia! has been heard in theatres all over the United States and Canada. In the videos below, you can hear parts of my design for productions at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois and for the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The final video features Charlottetown Festival Music Director Bob Foster discussing keyboard programming for their production of Mamma Mia!, with some nice live shots of the pit where you can clearly see my MainStage design in action.

LITTLE FISH

It was a pleasure getting to do a design for a show that doesn't get produced that often - Michael John LaChiusa's LITTLE FISH!

CATS

Here are examples of some of the sounds I created from scratch for my MainStage design for the musical CATS.